Forex Video Text Version
In our last lesson we continued our discussion on factors to consider when choosing a forex broker, with a look at how to evaluate the trading technology and value added resources that a firm provides. In today's lesson we are going to wrapup our broker evaluation module, with a look at the final factor that I consider important when choosing a broker, customer service.
As we have discussed in previous lessons, the retail forex market is a relatively new market, which means that many traders who have experience trading other markets do not have much experience with forex. When you add to this the fact that much of the market has yet to be standardized, you can see the potential for many questions to arise that need to be answered, and the importance that a firm has an intelligent staff that is easily accessible to answer those questions.
With this in mind, the first thing that I recommend doing when evaluating the customer service of a broker you are considering, is calling and talking to one or two of the people there, and asking them to describe their offerings in some of the areas that I have covered in the last few lessons, as well as any other questions that you may have. This should give a trader a pretty good idea of the competency of the support staff and an indication of how they are going to perform when it really matters.
The second thing I would recommend, is getting an idea of what hours those support people are available, and by what methods that they can be contacted. Remember that the forex market is a 24 hour market, so a firm's support staffs ability to perform overnight as well as during your daytime is much more important here than in the equities and many futures markets. The four most common methods in which a broker's support staff can be contacted are:
1. Telephone
2. Email
3. Live Chat
4. Forums
The last thing that it is perhaps most important to consider here, is to make sure that a firms trading desk is reachable by telephone in the case of platform failure which occurs either on your end or theirs. While this is important in any market, it is especially so in the forex market, as platform stability issues are more common here because the technology is newer and mostly proprietary.
That's our lesson for today, and that finishes up our series on factors to consider when choosing a broker.
Our recommended forex brokers list.
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